There is a reason why there are so many recruitment agencies and consultants out there – employees are valuable commodities, which is why we are prepared to spend a lot of time, money and effort finding “the perfect employee”, especially for our top management positions.
From doing background checks and calling up employment references to conducting psychometric tests on would-be candidates to see if they are the right “fit” for the job and the company, we really know how to put a person’s skills and personality under the microscope.
But what about our own companies/departments/teams? Would they survive the scrutiny of a potential employee? How would your company’s business record read on the CV of its life? Would its policies and procedures around skills development and onboarding attract top talent? At some point in our lives we should all take stock of our company, departments or teams and wonder if they are as attractive as the employees they are trying so hard to attract. Let’s put it this way – if your company/department/team were a new recruit, would it be head hunted by a top company or passed over for a better candidate?
It takes a great employer to make a great employee. It’s that simple. You create the working environment and set the management style that your employees work within. This framework is everything. If it encourages a silo mentality and a blame culture, don’t expect your employees to take responsibility for their actions or not to have a good moan behind about the company your back. And you can forget about creating positive brand ambassadors of your employees. It’s not going to happen.
So what do great employers have in common? Five things, say the experts. 1) Inspired leadership 2) Unique company culture 3) A focus on growing talent 4. Strong sense of accountability 5) Aligned HR practices and excellent execution.
The funny thing is that, we probably all know this but are still not making sure we execute each and every one of these areas to our full capacity. How many of us have a great onboarding programme for new recruits or train our managers before they move them into supervisory positions? How many of us put aside five to ten percent of our gross on training every year? Because, simple as these things may be, they enable retention and employee loyalty, which makes for happy customers at the end of the day.
But even these things are just “bog standard”. The next level, and this is where companies can really stand out, is how you promote good corporate citizenship and become leaders in your industry. Here I’m talking about environmental policies and employee wellness programmes that would necessarily include things like employee volunteerism initiatives and their like. Because, let’s face it, it’s one thing working for a company that has nice offices and sponsors the odd charity golf day and quite another working for a company that is making a difference in the lives of its employees and the communities they live in.
Among other things, best employers will…
- articulate their unique organisational culture, and they hire people for “culture fit.”
- create a unique employment experience and emphasise promotion from within
- provide access to more training channels and are more likely to implement one-on-one mentoring.
- embrace a culture of high performance, stress company values, and have systems and practices in place to inspire their workforce to do their best.
- have leadership teams that set the example for commitment to their companies and their people.
Our industry may be transport and logistics but our real business is people – making sure our customers are happy and our employees motivated and empowered. And the end of the day it’s our responsibility as business owners/managers/team leaders to make sure we are creating an environment that encourages and enables the best in our employees. Drawing on words of JFK “ask not what your employee can do for you, ask what you can do for your employee.
